subject: Boston Fraud Not Indicative Of Addiction Treatment Centers [print this page] If you have been following the news recently you have probably heard the stories coming out of Boston regarding the owner of a group of drug addiction treatment centers who was recently arrested for Medicare fraud. While I won't go into details of the story, it has served to give a black eye to the entire industry of addiction treatment. Right or wrong, individuals associate the actions of one doctor with the field as a whole. This means all of us within the profession must now work harder than ever to make sure we are above scrutiny.
Addiction treatment is a very complicated entity - not only from the treatment standpoint, but also the business standpoint. Center operators must adhere to a long list of regulations dealing with accounting, record keeping, medical reimbursements, and so on. With just one little slip up on an administrator's part, a drug addiction treatment program could be plunged into collapse overnight.
The Exception to the Rule :-
For patients and their families, it's important to know that what happened in Boston is the exception to the rule. Almost every addiction treatment center and program of any reputation is very careful in following the law in all aspects of their business. Not only that, the professional staff working at America's clinics pour their hearts and souls into their clients, making every effort to help them break the cycle of drug addiction. Very few would purposely do something in violation of the law that might jeopardize the well-being of addicts.
It is unfortunate that business interests sometimes clash with treatment objectives, but that is in no way a reflection of treatment programs themselves, or the professionals who administer them. Addiction treatment centers exist to provide care and support for addicts regardless of the business aspects of making a center work. We need to give the benefit of the doubt to individual programs and their staffs, that they will help their patients in an ethical and responsible way.
Great Success :-
As those in the addiction treatment profession have gained additional knowledge and skills, programs around the country are realizing higher rates of success in direct proportion. More and more programs are reaching individual addicts and helping them reclaim their lives through a variety treatment methods. Not only that, they are helping them through support and aftercare in the weeks and months following the completion of a residential treatment program.
Yet in order for clinics to succeed, they also need to make sure they maintain proper business practices. What has happened in Boston has resulted in the closure of a large number of clinics that served thousands of clients. Experts are warning of a possible flood of clients into other programs as well as high rates of relapse among patients who are unable to enroll somewhere else.
Hopefully we have all learned a lesson in the concept of doing things right. We need to do so not only for the health of our industry, but more so the health of our clients.
by: dipak darji
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